Detecting correlations between data representing information

ABSTRACT

A method for acquiring an interrelation between an item of data representing an item of information of a data inventory and an item of data representing an item of information of a request for an interrelation to the item of data representing an item of information of a data inventory by means of a data processing system with data representing information in a data inventory which can be accessed via a data source comprises a link being established by means of a syntactic comparison and/or by means of one semantic comparison of the item of data representing an item of information of a data inventory with the item of data representing an item of information of the request for interrelation with the item of data representing an item of information of a data inventory. According to the method, results of requests for an interrelation are grouped according to topics.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of pending Internationalpatent application PCT/EP2007/007663 filed on Sep. 3, 2007, whichdesignates the United States and the content of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for acquiring at least oneinterrelation between at least one item of data representing at leastone item of information of at least one data inventory and at least oneitem of data representing at least one item of information of a requestfor an interrelation (interrelation request) to the at least one item ofdata representing at least one item of information of at least one datainventory by means of a data processing system with data representinginformation in at least one data inventory which can be accessed via atleast one data source, wherein the at least one interrelation itselfwill be acquired as an item of data representing at least one item ofinformation in a data inventory and dynamically as a link between atleast one item of data representing at least one item of information ofat least one data inventory and at least one other item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of at least one datainventory and/or at least one electronic use of at least one item ofdata representing at least one item of information of at least one datainventory and will be reproduced by means of an optical and/oracoustical display device of the data processing system, wherein thelink will be established by means of at least one syntactic comparisonand/or by means of one semantic comparison of the at least one item ofdata representing at least one item of information of at least one datainventory with the at least one item of data representing at least oneitem of information of the request for interrelation (interrelationrequest) with/to the at least one item of data representing at least oneitem of information of at least one data inventory.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a data processing systemwith data representing information in at least one data inventoryaccessible via at least one data source, which system is designed and/oradapted for at least partially carrying out a method according to theinvention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dataprocessing device for electronic data processing comprising a controland/or computing unit, an input unit and an output unit, which isconfigured and/or adapted for at least partially carrying out a methodaccording to the invention, preferably using at least a part of a dataprocessing system according to the invention.

Numerous embodiments of methods, systems and devices for electronic dataprocessing are known from the state of the art, in particular from WO2005/050471 A2, the disclosures of which are hereby explicitlyreferenced.

Methods, data processing systems and/or data processing devices of thekind mentioned in the beginning are used within the scope of searchapplications or routines for instance by operating systems and/or byso-called search engines, as well as within the scope of organisation,provision and/or delivery of information.

Usually contents are machine-processed as data representing informationof a data inventory, in particular in order to be placed at the disposalof users, or to serve users, as technical means for solving tasks. Datainventories in the sense of the invention are simple, universallyusable, persistent data objects containing, like files and/or documentsin operating systems or databases, in particular structural, content,and administrative information, as required.

In data processing systems and/or data processing devices the datainventories are usually accessible to a data processing system and/or adata processing device via at least one data source, usually a datacarrier available within a data processing system or interfaceable orconnectible via a communication network, for instance a hard disc orsimilar data recording means.

Operating systems operate with a hierarchical order of files, forinstance in their so-called file system. Herein, the files are arrangedas a data inventory in directories in a tree structure. Navigation inthe files usually occurs along an Aristotelic logic via the names of theindividual directories down to a file. Herein, the process of navigationcan comprise several steps and furthermore involves the problem of anunambiguous assignment. Moreover, in operating systems, theadministration of files is separated from the administration of datawhich are exclusively accessible via application programs accessingdatabases or file-based data structures, as for instance XML. Normally,the separation occurs in accordance with the technical implementation orrealisation of the persistence of the respective data.

In database-supported applications, relational databases managing staticconnections of tables provided with data have been used hitherto. Due tothe used static connections in the tables managed by search engines,modifications in the data inventories cannot be acquired at all or onlyin a limited manner and with a delay. The evaluation or use of the datamust be determined in a foresighted manner.

Usually, search engines allow users to search data inventories only forkeywords or a Boolean combination of keywords. Precise search requests,as for instance the calling of invoices or the like from a particularperiod of time or similar queries are not possible.

Moreover, data processing systems usually operate with a static—i.e.firmly preset—hierarchically structured menu structure providing theuser with a selection of possible functions for operating the dataprocessing system. In operating systems such as for instance MacOS X ofthe company Apple, so-called pop-up menus are used in addition. Theseare also hierarchically structured menu structures which, depending onthe installed application programs, however, can be supplemented atleast partly by corresponding menu items for starting or callingindividual application programs and/or functionalities of the same.Apart from the supplementability of the menu structures, the latter arenevertheless statically hierarchically structured in their use. Thepreviously existing static hierarchical structuring of menu structuresin data processing systems can consequently not, or only to a limitedextent, fulfil a user's preferences of use. Taking the respectivecontext of use into account by means of the menu structures, wherein inparticular those menu items are offered in a menu which make sense orare reasonable in the context of the situation or of the calledcontents, is not possible, in particular not due to the statichierarchical structure of the menus.

Synchronisation of data representing information in data inventoriesbetween different data processing devices jointly using the datainventories—in particular in view of the increasing dissemination ofdata processing devices for mobile use such as so-called PDAs (PDA:Personal Digital Assistant)—is an important part of data processingsystems and is integrated into data processing systems for instance inthe form of so-called PIM systems (PIM: Personal InformationManagement). The functionality of synchronisation, however, haspreviously been restricted to a purely manual selection of informationto be synchronised. For instance, a user can only select by manual inputwhich, or which part of, the contact addresses managed by the dataprocessing system he wants to synchronise. A closer or more detailedspecification with regard to a limitation of content of the informationto be synchronised is not possible, in particular not as an automatedprocess which independently adjusts to the user's requirements.

In view of this state of the art, it is the object of the presentinvention to improve the acquisition of interrelations between datarepresenting information avoiding the described disadvantages, inparticular with regard to method, scope and handling of the acquisitionof interrelations as well as the use of the acquired interrelations, inparticular in consideration of the respective user-individual uses ofthe interrelations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

For the technical solution the present invention proposes a method foracquiring at least one interrelation between at least one item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of at least one datainventory and at least one item of data representing at least one itemof information of a request for an interrelation (interrelation request)to the at least one item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of at least one data inventory by means of a data processingsystem with data representing information in at least one data inventorywhich can be accessed via at least one data source, wherein the at leastone interrelation itself will be acquired as an item of datarepresenting at least one item of information in a data inventory anddynamically as a link between at least one item of data representing atleast one item of information of at least one data inventory and atleast one other item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of at least one data inventory and/or at least oneelectronic use of at least one item of data representing at least oneitem of information of at least one data inventory and will bereproduced by means of an optical and/or acoustical display device ofthe data processing system, wherein the link will be established bymeans of at least one syntactic comparison and/or by means of onesemantic comparison of the at least one item of data representing atleast one item of information of at least one data inventory with the atleast one item of data representing at least one item of information ofthe request for interrelation (interrelation request) with/to the atleast one item of data representing at least one item of information ofat least one data inventory, wherein results of requests for aninterrelation (interrelation request) are grouped according to topics.

The requests for an interrelation between the contents of datarepresenting information, interrelation requests in the sense of thepresent invention, are advantageously themselves information and/oractions of representing data. Accordingly and according to theinvention, in general interrelations between two successive contentswill be advantageously acquired as data representing information of oneor two data inventories.

The invention is based upon the knowledge that the grouping of resultsof requests for an interrelation (interrelation request) enables tofurther improve and optimize interrelation requests, in particular withrespect to the usability for the user of an acquisition ofinterrelations according to the invention.

An especially preferred embodiment of the invention provides that theinterrelation request is realised as a request addressed to a searchengine. Herein, a search engine in the sense of the invention is inparticular a program for researching documents and/or data records—whichare, in the sense of the present invention, one item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of a data inventory—whichare provided or held ready by means of a computing device—also calledcomputer—or in or via a computer network, in particular the internet oran intranet. In the scope of a use of the method according to theinvention with respect to the interrelation request for or with a searchengine a keyword index will be advantageously created for the documentbasis—which is, in the sense of the present invention, a result of asearch request or an interrelation request—in order to respond to searchrequests via keywords—which are, in the sense of the present invention,one item of data representing at least one item of information of theinterrelation request—by means of a hit list arranged according torelevance. After input of one or more search terms—which are, in thesense of the present invention, an item of data representing an item ofinformation of the interrelation request—a list of links to possiblyrelevant documents or data records—which are, in the sense of thepresent invention, an item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of a data inventory—will be delivered.

Thus, an altogether self-learning solution will be realised according tothe invention. Altogether, the acquisition of interrelations betweendata representing information has been improved thereby, in particularwith respect to the manner, scope as well as handling of the acquisitionof interrelations as well as to the use of the acquired interrelations,in particular in consideration of the respective groupings of theresults of the interrelation requests. Herein, interrelations can bemanaged as knowledge according to the invention.

Herein, the method according to the invention puts the knowledge intopractice that knowledge is created by connecting contents. In contrastto a use of term networks which are encoded in a so called Topic Mapaccording to ISO/IEC 13250 and are for instance created by consultingenterprises with respect to areas of business or by verticalisedknowledge management solutions of software manufacturers, the inventionprovides a self-learning solution which adapts itself to therequirements and preferences of the respective consumer or user.Accordingly, the functionalities of the method according to theinvention can be simply integrated without any problems into existingsolutions, in particular data processing systems and/or data processingdevices. Costly and training intensive introductions of a solutionaccording to the invention into existing or new projects can be dropped.

The solution according to the invention enables a user to get easily andquickly from one item of content to other contents linked viainterrelations. Since advantageously, all contents, in particular ingroupings according to the invention, are repeatedly connectable viainterrelations, a navigation within the scope of an interrelationrequest can advantageously also lead back to the starting point of therequest, i.e. to the interrelation request itself. In this manner, theuser can advantageously recognise contexts, in particular with orbetween his uses, which are relevant for instance for his current focusof interest. In a fixed, static hierarchical order of data processingsystems, as it exists for instance in operating systems and theirapplication programs usually using tree structures to select contents,this is not possible, since these do not allow a consideration of neworder structures.

While otherwise, users of data processing systems enter data via inputmasks provided by the data processing system, the solution according tothe invention advantageously makes it possible to describe data inaccordance with a current requirement of the user. So for instance, thesolution according to the invention does not rigidly determine thedescription of an address or a project, as it is otherwise usual, butdue to the dynamic data management according to the invention and thedesign of a corresponding graphic user interface, it enables the user touse it in an extremely flexible and individual manner.

An advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized in that fortopically grouping results of requests for an interrelation(interrelation request), in particular an interrelation request used assearch request sent to a search engine retrieves, preferably step bystep for each result of a request for an interrelation (interrelationrequest), data representing information linked to the result and if atleast one link which is also a result of a request for an interrelation(interrelation request) is existent, a group will be generated orcreated in which the links are acquired. A preferred embodiment of theinvention provides that for already grouped results of the request foran interrelation (interrelation request) no link will be retrieved. Foralready linked results of an interrelation request, the correspondinglinks do not have to be considered any more according to the invention,since these ones are already linked and thus grouped according to theinvention.

Another embodiment of the invention provides that the grouping will beprovided with an identification which is formed by the three longestand/or most frequent data representing information of the groupedresults. The identification is preferably a name of alphanumericcharacters.

In another most preferred embodiment of the invention grouped results ofrequests for an interrelation (interrelation request) will be reproducedby the optical display device of a data processing system in form ofstacks representing the respective group, preferably in graphicallyanimated form.

In another advantageous embodiment of the invention it is provided thatat least one word of a list made on the base of a full text (list ofwords) and comprising words contained in the full text will be used asthe at least one item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of the request for an interrelation (interrelation request).

An advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that the words onthe list (list of words) of the words contained in the full text will bearranged in ascending manner in accordance with the frequency of theirpresence in the full text and the arranged words will be used inconsideration of the frequency of their presence in the full text as theat least one item of data representing at least one item of informationof the request for interrelation (interrelation request).

In another embodiment of the invention it is provided that apre-determinable number of the words arranged on a list (arranged listof words) in accordance with the frequency of their presence in the fulltext will be acquired and the words of the list (arranged list of words)will be used as the at least one item of data representing at least oneitem of information of the request for an interrelation (interrelationrequest). Advantageously, the list (arranged list of words) contains thewords with the lowest frequency of their presence in the full text. Inanother embodiment of the invention the words are advantageouslyarranged in an ascending manner in accordance with the frequency oftheir presence in the full text. The pre-determinable number ispreferably limited to up to 32, in particular since thanks to thepre-determinable number the number of attributes which are usable for aninterrelation request and can be preferably logically connected to eachother can be defined and furthermore—as it has been foundempirically—the performance of the solution according to the inventionin use by data processing systems can thus be optimised.

According to another proposal of the invention the words of the list areat least partially, preferably completely—i.e. the entire list ofwords—used in parallel as the at least one item of data representing atleast one item of information of the request for an interrelation(interrelation request). Herein, the words of the arranged list of wordsare advantageously connected to each other in a logical manner,preferably by means of a Boolean logical addition, and the logicaladdition will be used as the at least one item of data representing atleast one item of information of the request for an interrelation(interrelation request). As result the interrelation request thendelivers a similarity value, preferably via a search engine. Thesimilarity value is advantageously a percentage number with respect tothe similarity, wherein for a similarity value of 100% all the wordsfrom the arranged list of words that have been used as attributes forthe request in the requested context, especially preferred between twofull texts or full text documents, occur and/or are relevant and for asimilarity value of 0% none of the words from the arranged list of wordsthat have been used as attributes for the request in the requestedcontext, especially preferred between two full texts or full textdocuments, occurs and/or is similar or is relevant with respect to thesimilarity.

An alternative and/or supplementing embodiment of the inventionadvantageously provides that the words of the list will be used oneafter the other as the at least one item of data representing at leastone item of information of the request for an interrelation(interrelation request).

Advantageously, the connections are acquired like, and preferably with,the dynamically acquired interrelations. In contrast to relationaldatabases where connections of tables provided with data are managed,the solution according to the invention creates links of the acquiredinterrelations dynamically, preferably in n-to-n relations, wherein theinterrelations are advantageously obtained and maintained, i.e. inparticular kept up to date, independently according to the method.

According to the invention advantageously all data inventories existingin and/or connected with or integratable into the system are indexed.From the user's point of view, a dissolution of the otherwise existingseparation between database and file system, as for instance in searchengines, will thus be achieved. The solution according to the inventionthereby enables a search of contents independent of the technicalrealisation of the persistence of data. Herein a quasi-combination ofindices and databases is created according to the invention enablingdifferent search options by interrelations, in particular an integrationof precise search queries and full-text searches. Search queries areanalysed and converted for an internal query of the data sources.

The solution according to the invention advantageously permits anintegration of data sources without having to replicate data or to useresources for redundancies. For this, a data processing system accordingto the invention advantageously comprises a structure which makes itpossible to integrate data sources without having to replicate data orto use resources for redundancies (plug-in structure of the dataprocessing system). The involvement of data sources for data migrationotherwise requiring a high development effort and large system resourcescan therefore be advantageously omitted.

In accordance with another proposal of the invention, the solutionaccording to the invention also takes local data inventories intoaccount which can for instance be shared by different users for use in acomputer network, e.g. various employees in a company network, inparticular. a client-server network. Contents and their interrelationscan thereby be used in a company network for instance for marketresearch and/or competition analyses or similar applications.

In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the connection iscreated by a syntactic comparison between the at least one item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of the request for aninterrelation (interrelation request) and the at least one datainventory. The particularity of the art according to the invention is asyntactic comparison on the basis of rules (keys) that can berespectively described in insertable modules, so-called plug-ins. Thishas two crucial advantages: On the one hand, valid interrelationsspecified by the user (e.g. business rules) can be defined and appliedto the data inventory. At the same time, this allows for a flexible datastructure. On the other hand, interrelations between items ofinformation and options for action (dynamic functions) can be created bythe rules. According to the invention, a solution is used here, in whichinformation about actions on the part of a user or automatic processesis provided to all system components (plug-ins) managing data sources inorder for them to trigger actions or changes to the data inventorythemselves, if required. The syntactic analysis is advantageouslyapplied in combination with other analyses in order to realise quickresults and an immediately usable overall system.

Another advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that theconnection is created by a semantic comparison between the at least oneitem of data representing at least one item of information of therequest for an interrelation (interrelation request) and the at leastone data inventory. Within the scope of the semantic comparison, asemantic network is herein advantageously created from whichinterrelations can be acquired.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the variouspossibilities for the creation of connections are applied incombination. Unlike neural networks, the solution according to theinvention works with a combination of syntactic and/or semantic analyticprocesses in order to achieve a high learning speed.

According to an advantageous proposal of the invention the connection iscreated by manual input, preferably by a select input.

In another particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, othercomparisons for the acquisition of connections can be integrated intothe data processing system according to the invention. In this manner,the user can for instance integrate other analytic procedures and/ormethods in addition to the mentioned possibilities for acquisition ofconnections and accordingly expand the data processing system by theseaccording to the user's individual requirements.

Another advantageous proposal of the invention is characterised by atleast one electronic use of an item of data representing at least oneitem of information of at least one data inventory as an item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of the request for aninterrelation (interrelation request). A particularly advantageousembodiment of the invention is characterised by an acquisition ofelectronic uses of data representing at least one item of information ofat least one data inventory in accordance with time and/or frequency anduse of this acquisition as the at least one item of data representing atleast one item of information of the request for an interrelation(interrelation request). Another advantageous embodiment of theinvention is characterised by at least one acquisition of aninterrelation as electronic use of an item of data representing at leastone item of information of a data inventory. Another embodiment of theinvention is characterised by the use of at least one reference to adata inventory comprising data representing at least one item ofinformation. By these measures, for instance the use of a file with anapplication program, advantageously either individually or incombination, can be acquired as an interrelation. Scope and handling ofthe solution according to the invention can thus be further improved,and user applications can be further individualised. For the analysis,advantageously actions, time and sequence of the user and results ofdata modifications are logged according to the invention. The datamodifications are advantageously verified by a so-called crawler.

The acquisition of interrelations advantageously occurs in a weightedmanner. In this manner, the dynamics of acquisition of interrelationscan be advantageously further increased or reduced. In a preferredembodiment of the invention, the weighting of interrelations of at leastone interrelation already acquired as an item of data representing atleast one item of information in a data inventory is modified independence on the weighting of interrelations of a subsequently acquiredinterrelation; preferably the weighting of interrelations is increased(incremented) or reduced (decremented). In a particularly preferredembodiment of the invention, the weighting is not only realised inaccordance with a percentage hit accuracy of a search query, but on thebasis of the semantic network formed by dynamic acquisition by thesolution of the invention, which network is automatically andcontinuously optimised by numerous parameters, in particular bycontinuous updating of the acquired interrelations. Details of thisiterative process comprising several bifurcations result in connectionwith the following description of the flow charts shown in the figuresof the exemplary embodiments, in particular from FIG. 14.

Advantageously, at least one acquired interrelation is reproduced,preferably by an optical and/or acoustical display device of the dataprocessing system according to the invention or of a data processingdevice according to the invention, respectively. In accordance withanother advantageous proposal of the invention, the weighting of theacquired interrelation is reproduced together with it.

In another embodiment of the invention, weightings are provided with anexpiry period in order to down-grade interrelations in dependence ontime. Since each user will use the solution according to the inventionwith different intensity, it is appropriate to use a meter for theexpiry period which uses an action as the smallest unit of time. In thiscase, an action is the calling of an item of content, preferablyincluding processing of the same, and/or the creation of a new item ofcontent from the data processing system. In another embodiment of theinvention, the period within which a user has used an item of content,for instance viewed one, is used for determining the expiry period. Theexpiry period of a weighting of an interrelation is advantageouslyextended the longer and/or the more often the user has occupied himselfwith an item of content, since its significance for the user is or mustbe correspondingly higher.

Moreover, the present invention relates to a data processing system withdata representing information in at least one data inventory that isaccessible via a data source and that is configured and/or adapted forat least partially carrying out a method according to the invention.

Another advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterised by agraphic user interface for entering and/or reproduction of interrelationrequests, connections, interrelations and/or weightings ofinterrelations. The graphic user interface is advantageously furthermoredesigned and/or adapted for entering, modifying and/or reproducing datarepresenting information in at least one data inventory. The userinterface advantageously provides a graphic user interface which enablesaction-oriented navigation. This means that in place of possiblefunctions in hierarchically structured menu structures otherwise offeredfor selection to the user, options for action are offered to the userwithin the scope of the invention which are reasonable and make sense inthe context of the situation or contents called, respectively. Inaccordance with a particularly preferred proposal of the invention,action-oriented navigation uses a binary basic structure which enablesinput of contents on the one hand and output of contents, on the otherhand. This action-oriented, binary navigation is advantageously realisedwith cross-device validity, i.e. independently of the respective dataprocessing device.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the graphicuser interface partitions the optical display area available forreproduction by means of a display device into three areas, wherein theresult of a selection of data representing information is reproduced ina first area, an item of information selected from the selection in thefirst area is reproduced in a second area with a display, and the atleast one interrelation is reproduced in the third area. The item ofinformation in the second area selected from the selection in the firstarea is preferably reproduced as a preview or as full display of theitem of information. The display area can also be provided in the formof a window by the display device. Another proposal of the invention ischaracterised by a horizontal or vertical layout. The size of the areascan be advantageously set or adjusted.

In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, reproduction occursat least partly in selectable form, i.e. the reproduced interrelationsthemselves are for instance designed as menu items for options foraction and/or as connections in the form of a link and can be used byselection, for instance by so-called “clicking-on”.

Contents or documents comprising contents are advantageously reproducedwithin the scope of a preview by the data processing system. In thismanner, the possibilities of orientation for the user in theinterrelations and contents are further improved. During navigation orcontrolling, the preview is advantageously reproducible by datainventories, such that the user can gain a quick overview ofinterrelations. This preview advantageously contains a summary of thecontent, for instance an Internet page reduced with regard to theelements or components shown, or a summarised text. Thereby, otherwiseexisting restrictions, which are present for instance in operatingsystems giving a preview of documents in the form of small pictures(so-called thumbnails), in the form of beginnings of texts, or in theform of program or document symbols (so-called icons), can be eliminatedin accordance with the invention.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the dataprocessing system according to the invention is used for dynamicorganisation of information and/or processes, preferably within thescope of a software running on a computer.

The data processing system according to the invention is advantageouslypart of a database application, or at least usable together with adatabase application.

Furthermore, the subject of the invention relates to a data processingdevice for electronic data processing comprising a control and/orcomputing unit, an input unit and an output unit which is configuredand/or adapted for at least partially carrying out a method according tothe invention, preferably using at least a part of a data processingsystem according to the invention.

In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, a data processingdevice for electronic data processing comprising a control and/orcomputing unit, an input unit and an output unit is provided,characterised by a use of a data processing system according to theinvention.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the data processingdevice is designed as a mobile terminal, preferably as a mobile terminalwhich can be used and operated in mobile networks. Particularlypreferred is an embodiment of the data processing device as a mobiletelephone.

The data processing system according to the invention is advantageouslyconfigured in such a way that it can be run under a Java VM, so that thedata processing system can principally be used on all mobile terminals.In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the dataprocessing device supports the special ergonomics of the data processingsystem.

A preferred embodiment of the solution according to the inventionadvantageously comprises and realises the following procedures, systemsand/or devices for acquisition of interrelations between datarepresenting information:

Based on findings of linguistics, epistemology and neurology,interrelations between contents (data representing information) areacquired, wherein the interrelations are acquired dynamically asmodifiable, advantageously increasable or reducible n-to-n connections(n: natural, whole number) in accordance with neuronal patterns orassociations in the human brain, respectively.

Just like the human brain condenses and processes stimuli of its sensoryorgans as mental presentations to mental representations—for instance,the human brain derives a movable object from synchronically activatedstimuli by means of the visual system of perception—interrelationsbetween contents (data representing information) are acquired in thesolution according to the invention. In iterative processes, informationor contents, respectively, can be condensed to knowledge on the basis ofthe correspondingly acquired dynamic interrelations. Furthermore,according to the invention, the interrelations acquired in this way canthemselves be used as new content in the form of data representinginformation, for instance as options for action which are offered to theuser to select from, or enter into process controls or the like withinthe scope of automated processes. Herein, the solution according to theinvention is advantageously pragmatic and self-organising, so thatconfigurations by the user are not required. At the same time, thesolution according to the invention still allows open controls by theuser.

Within the scope of the acquisition of interrelations, different methodsfor producing, modifying and dissolving dynamic n-to-n connections areadvantageously applied in combination with each other, in particularconnections by manual inputs, connections by syntactic comparisonsand/or connections by semantic comparisons. Furthermore,mathematical-statistical analytical procedures can be used to acquireinterrelations. The interrelations acquired by connections areadvantageously provided with a weighting. Herein, this weighting isadvantageously realised with values, preferably values between 0 and 1,corresponding to no interrelation (value 0) or an immediateinterrelation (value 1).

Connections of interrelations by manual inputs of the user can beprovided with the greatest possible weighting value, in the presentinvention 1, i.e. the weighting of the connection will get the highestand fixed value. Herein, in particular the ergonomics of action-orientedlogic described in more detail in the following is used. Alternatively,a smaller value may be set in order to let the connection enter into thesemantic network.

With connections of interrelations by syntactic comparisons and/orrules, the contents (data representing information) of files and/ordatabases or defined parts of contents are searched as a data inventoryfor matching words, word components or character strings whichcorrespond to the contents (data representing information) of theinterrelation request. By this quick and valid connection which providesa kind of basic structure for interrelations, the independentacquisition of interrelations, the so-called “self-learning” of thesolution according to the invention, is accelerated.

With connections of interrelations by semantic comparisons, dynamicinterrelations are advantageously acquired based on, or by means of, thesequence of contents (data representing information) of data inventories(files and/or databases) and/or the sequence of uses of contents (datarepresenting information) of data inventories (files and/or databases).Herein, the solution according to the invention advantageously usesfindings of implicit semantics. The semantics are called implicitbecause in the present case, it is not explicitly modelled by aconceptual network (topic map) or semantic rules of linguistics, butbased on the knowledge that interrelations between contents such asmeanings within a language are not created by definition, but developeddynamically by the use of the same. Meanings of a language are thusdeveloped by the use of the language, and interrelations betweencontents according to the invention by the use of these contents. Tothat extent, semantics cannot be abstracted from language practice or,in the present case, from the contents.

In the technical realisation of connections of interrelations bysemantic comparisons, each dynamic connection is given an intrasystemvalue between 0 and 1, wherein the value 0 shows that there is nointerrelation, and the value 1 shows that there is a directinterrelation, which was created manually or by syntactic comparisons.The solution according to the invention logs all actions of the userwith the data processing system or the sequence of all called or usedcontents, respectively, for instance edited contents. As alreadyexplained, contents are understood to be data representing informationof an arbitrary data inventory, for instance of a file and/or adatabase, which can originate from different data formats and fromdifferent data sources.

If two items of content succeed each other, a latent connection iscreated. If this succession appears repeatedly, the connection isstrengthened. Each connection is advantageously also provided with anexpiry period of a pre-determinable time unit, wherein the value of aconnection is attenuated in a time unit and finally tends toward thevalue 0 after several time units.

Beyond the direct succession of two items of content, the solutionaccording to the invention advantageously provides groups of contentcalls which form a pattern. Herein, a pattern means a succession ofcontent calls which recur independent of their order. The patterns canbe of different sizes and comprise different numbers of items of contentper succession and advantageously form a so-called cluster which forms asubject on a semantic meta level beyond the interrelation. Such asubject could in turn be designated as an interrelation request with theaid of a syntactic comparison for acquisition.

Furthermore, the solution according to the invention is able todetermine the relevance of acquired interrelations for the respectiveuser on the basis of the semantic comparison. In this manner, thesolution according to the invention avoids an excessive flood ofinformation and can answer interrelation requests of the user moreprecisely and in a more focussed manner. The relevance can furthermorebe advantageously used by the solution according to the invention for aself-organising maintenance of the data processing system, for instancein order to remove data which are not used, which are old and/orunimportant or have become unimportant which would otherwise burden thedata processing system.

With interrelation connections by semantic comparisons, it is possibleby an appropriate configuration to advantageously analyse contentsand/or uses of contents in accordance with individual interests of auser, in the following referred to as interest or action analysis.

An interest analysis examines which content categories the userpreferably needs in the respective context. In this manner, the solutionaccording to the invention trains the user-specific rules for thesyntactic analysis of contents. If the user for instance needs invoicesand orders when calling a set of addresses, these relations are will beadvantageously displayed by the data processing system according to theinvention. The solution according to the invention understands contentcategories to be contents which are formally similar, for instanceelectronic mail (e-mail), addresses, invoices, orders, projectplannings, appointments, and the like. Just as with semanticcomparisons, the results of the interest analysis are represented by adynamic network the relations of which can be increased or reduced.

Thanks to this interest analysis, it is possible to restrict thecontents, uses of contents and/or aspects of a subject of contents whichare interesting for the user to a narrower focus. A subject in thiscontext is a group of contents which—as explained above—has beenidentified and summarised within the scope of a semantic comparison orwhich results from a queried and acquired interrelation. Theinterrelation request can advantageously be initiated in differentmanners, for instance by dynamically acquired uses of the dataprocessing system by the user or by manual or—if language recognitionand natural language interpretation by means of the data processingsystem according to the invention have been integrated—oralinterrelation requests placed with the data processing system, forinstance in a search field provided for this purpose by a graphic userinterface for controlling the data processing system according to theinvention.

An action analysis examines which uses of contents the user preferablyneeds in the respective context. Therefore, not the contents, but theactions associated with the contents, which are advantageously processedinto options for action in dependence on variables such as content, typeof content or subject by the solution according to the invention, areacquired in a networked manner. For each called content or interrelationrequest, the solution according to the invention is able to dynamicallyoffer options for action which make sense to the user in the respectivecase or which are particularly probable based on his usual actions. Sofor instance, it makes sense that a drawn-up invoice is entered in acorresponding data processing system or a like application, or that areply to an email can be created.

With an advantageous analysis in accordance with patterns in thecontents and/or their uses, a so-called pattern analyser isadvantageously used in the present case, a process which searchesunstructured contents for patterns which it recognises as independentcontent or which it uses for a summary of contents.

The so-called pattern analyser recognises for instance an address or apicture in the text and can use this information in order to make itavailable as independent content. In this manner, Internet pages can beused for an automated address research. The pattern analyser therebyadvantageously takes up the concepts of the described semantic analysisaccording to the invention. Selected contents, for instance emails, areadvantageously automatically evaluated and provided as structuredinformation.

As already explained above, subsequent to the semantic analysis, theanalyser verifies whether there are connections between the links andwhether a meta link can be established.

For the creation of meta contents or identification of subjects,respectively, the semantic analyser verifies at first how many linksthere are to a content. When a critical number has been reached which isdynamically definable, and if there is no meta content yet whichcontains the set of links of the content examined by the analyser as asubset of its links, a new meta content will be created. For thispurpose, the individual items of content are merged and summarised. Thiscan be advantageously done by means of the pattern analyser or otheranalytic procedures or methods.

If a subject exists and the connections fall below the critical number,the meta content will be deleted. Meta contents can advantageously bemanaged via a corresponding plug-in.

Principally the solution according to the invention is able to integrateunlimited data inventories in the form of files and/or databases ofdifferent formats and from different data sources into the dataprocessing system. Herein, the data sources should neither be importednor modified, in order to remain advantageously functional and usablewithin their original system context. This serves the security ofinvestment and furthermore accelerates or supports an implementation ofthe solution according to the invention. For this purpose, the dataprocessing system according to the invention advantageously comprises acentral data management—in the following referred to as“repository”—which contains references to the various data inventoriesand data sources. Herein, not the complete contents are memorized, butonly references to the respective data. In this manner, double datamanagement can be avoided.

As already explained above, the solution according to the invention isable to integrate data representing information as contents fromdifferent data inventories—both databases and files—in different formatsfrom the most different data sources, for instance via the Internet or alocal company network, identify their structures and identify thedetected interrelations between the contents or content components, forinstance the sender of an email. Herein, the individual contentcomponents are advantageously related to corresponding contentcomponents of other contents. By this measure, the solution according tothe invention is accelerated with regard to searching contents of datainventories—in particular also full texts—for words, word componentsand/or character strings.

This process of crawling contents of data inventories for words, wordcomponents and/or character strings—subsequently also referred to as“crawler”—is advantageously executed by a data processing systemaccording to the invention in the background of the application of thesolution according to the invention and periodically searches for newand modified contents which are preferably temporarily held for analysisin temporary files. As soon as the analysis is completed, the temporaryfiles are deleted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further details, characteristics and advantages of the invention areexplained in the following in more detail based on the description ofthe exemplary embodiments shown in the figures of the drawing. In thesefigures:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the principal components of a dataprocessing system according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a principal exemplary embodiment of a communication betweenselected components of the data processing system according to theinvention according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of another principal exemplary embodimentof a communication between selected components of the data processingsystem according to the invention according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows another principal exemplary embodiment of a communicationbetween selected components of the data processing system according tothe invention according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a principal exemplary embodiment of aprogram implementation of a communication between selected components ofthe data processing system according to the invention according to FIG.1;

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of another principal exemplary embodimentof a program implementation of a communication between selectedcomponents of the data processing system according to the inventionaccording to FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows principal details of the communication according to FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of another principal exemplary embodimentof a program implementation of a communication between selectedcomponents of the data processing system according to the inventionaccording to FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of another principal exemplary embodimentof a program implementation of a communication between selectedcomponents of the data processing system according to the inventionaccording to FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram of another principal exemplary embodimentof a program implementation of a communication between selectedcomponents of the data processing system according to the inventionaccording to FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of aninterrelation acquisition according to the invention;

FIG. 12 shows a flow chart of another exemplary embodiment of aninterrelation acquisition according to the invention;

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart of another exemplary embodiment of aninterrelation acquisition according to the invention;

FIG. 14 shows a flow chart of another exemplary embodiment of aninterrelation acquisition according to the invention;

FIG. 15 shows a flow chart of another exemplary embodiment of aninterrelation acquisition according to the invention;

FIG. 16 shows a flow chart of another exemplary embodiment of aninterrelation acquisition according to the invention;

FIG. 17 shows a schematic diagram of a principal exemplary embodiment ofa graphic user interface according to the invention for the use of adata processing system according to the invention;

FIG. 18 shows a schematic diagram of another principal exemplaryembodiment of a graphic user interface according to the invention forthe use of a data processing system according to the invention;

FIG. 19 shows a flow chart of an exemplary embodiment of a grouping ofresults according to the invention within the scope of an acquisition ofinterrelations according to the invention;

FIG. 20 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of agraphic reproduction of groupings of results according to the inventionwithin the scope of an acquisition of interrelations according to theinvention;

FIG. 21 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of agraphic reproduction of groupings of results according to the inventionwithin the scope of an acquisition of interrelations according to theinvention and

FIG. 22 shows a flow chart of another exemplary embodiment of anacquisition of interrelations according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The hardware respectively software concept realising an acquisitionaccording to the invention of interrelations between data representinginformation including the user guidance results in particular from thecontext-sensitive management of information according to the inventionand/or actions in such a way that a verifiable interrelation isprovided.

The data processing system consists of several components which in turncontain further sub-components. In the following, the respective maincomponents are described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 13 to provide ageneral overview of the architecture of the data processing system. Thebackground of the architecture presented and described here is that thecomponents do not imperatively have to be executed within oneapplication, but a division into several applications and systems isalso possible. In this manner, both a so-called standalone and aso-called client/server application are supported.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the data processing system comprises a userinterface, a kernel and a so-called repository.

The user interface (subsequently referred to as GUI) is the interface tothe user. Herein, the user interface (GUI) is realised and designed insuch a way that the ergonomic requirements of the user are completelymet. In the present case, the user interface (GUI) is platform- anddevice-dependent, respectively, and is correspondingly individuallyadjusted to the capabilities of each platform or data processing device.In the present case, for instance implementations of the user interface(GUI) for PCs, PDAs, web or HTML applications, mobile telephone orWML/WAP applications are provided which are preferably realised by meansof, or as, JAVA applications.

The kernel is the central application core of the data processingsystem, in which all components converge and are connected with eachother. The kernel itself is divided into further sub-components,subsequently referred to as IQser, content provider, crawler, logger ortracker (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1), respectively, or analyser.

The kernel provides an interface to the graphic user interface (GUI),and is subsequently referred to as IQser component. Herein, therespective method calls of the user interface (GUI) are forwarded to therespective appropriate components and processed correspondingly beforereturn to the user interface (GUI), if required, as can be seen from theprinciple shown in FIG. 2. The respective requested tasks according toFIG. 2 are executed by the respective components provided for thispurpose. FIG. 3 provides an exemplary overview of the connections amongthe individual components.

Furthermore, the IQser component is the controller unit which controlsthe accesses to the repository or repositories and the crawler andanalyser processes. Furthermore, in the present invention the IQsercomponent realises the object of integrating the respective contentprovider into the system.

The content provider component is an abstract component. In the presentinvention, it is a framework which makes it possible to integrate anydata source into the data processing system. This renders the overallsystem very flexible, and the latter can be integrated into the user'sinfrastructure.

The task of the crawler component is to search for new content objectsor for modifications of existing objects. All modifications orinnovations are synchronised in the repository, so that the repositoryis always up to date. The process realised by the crawler component runsin the background and is started via a freely definable interval.

The task of the logger or tracker component not explicitly shown in FIG.1 is to log any activity of the user with a content (subsequently alsoreferred to as content object). This logging is required in order toacquire certain processing or usage patterns of the user in relation todifferent content objects in the analyser at a later time, and to createor delete less relevant interrelations (so-called “weak links”) betweenobjects, if required.

In the present invention, the analyser component runs as an independentprocess in the background of the data processing system and assumesseveral tasks. For a semantic comparison, the analyser componentsearches activities or utilizations logged by the logger or trackercomponent, respectively, for patterns and creates or deletes the saidinterrelations in the repository. The data processing system can therebydynamically and independently recognise and quasi learn interrelationsbetween contents and their uses. With syntactic comparisons, theanalyser component compares the actual content of a data inventory(content object) with text fragments which point to other datainventories (content objects).

The data processing system refers to external data inventories and usesthe latter for the acquisition of interrelations. These can be entriesin external databases, for instance emails or addresses, but alsodocuments and objects of the data processing system itself. When theuser follows an interrelation reference, the data set or the externaldocument opens in the appropriate application. When the user accesses adata inventory via network connections, the document will open forinstance in an additional browser window after it has been convertedcorrespondingly by the data processing system.

The repository is the interface to data management. This is whereinterrelations and/or references to the data inventories (contentobjects) and their respective connections are managed. In FIG. 1, onlyone repository is shown in an exemplary manner. It is also possible,however, to integrate several repositories into the data processingsystem, so that for instance local, server-based interrelations and datainventories can be integrated into the respective user system.

The data processing system further comprises an interface forintegrating data inventories in order to be able to process everyconceivable type of contents in the form of data representinginformation. Since usually, not all possibilities and types ofintegration of data inventories can be predetermined in advance, thecontent provider component is implemented as a programmable interface inthe present invention. This enables developers to individually programother content providers which can then be used by the data processingsystem. This programming interface is subsequently also referred to asplug-in and is shown in FIG. 4.

The plug-in (FIG. 4) consists of several objects which must beimplemented by the developer:

-   -   ContentProvider: This is the interface to the kernel and        provides the methods required for processing contents.    -   Content: The content object is the actual content. It is used to        exchange contents between the components.    -   ContentView: Interface to the GUI. This is used to implement the        representation and the possible actions and uses of the        contents, respectively.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, plug-ins are managed by two objects, thePluginManager and the plug-in. The PluginManager's task is to search forinstalled plug-ins when the IQser component of the data processingsystem is started, and to load and initialise existing plug-ins. Theplug-in itself in the present invention is used as a data container. Itcontains a unit of the ContentProvider and the configuration of therespective plug-in.

For the development of a new plug-in, the developer must implement theobjects ContentProvider, Content and ContentView. A plug-in isconfigured via a file (presently plugin.xml) which must be present inthe respective plug-in directory. If it is missing, the directory is nottaken over as a plug-in by the component of the data processing systemreferred to as IQser in the present invention.

FIG. 6 in an exemplary manner shows the processes realised by thecrawler component which run in the background of the application of thedata processing system. Herein, the data inventories are searched fornew and modified contents, and these are memorized for analysis forinstance in the form of a table. In the present invention, the processesare carried out with low priority in periodic intervals.

As can be seen on the basis of FIG. 7, the so-called crawler obtains thelist of installed plug-ins from the PluginManager and processes themsuccessively. In doing so, each ContentProvider of a plug-in is queriedfor new or modified content objects. The ContentProvider respectivelyreturns a list with content IDs. These lists are then memorized by thecrawler in a cache table. The table is then in turn processed by theanalysers.

The task of the so-called logger or tracker component shown in anexemplary manner in FIG. 8 is similar to that of the crawler component.The tracker or logger logs the actions of the user to content objects.By this logging operation, patterns in the processing and/or use ofcontents are later acquired by the InterestAnalyser and put to furtheruse. In this manner, interrelations between contents can be createddynamically. These interrelations are weighted low and, as soon as theyhave not been used for a longer, pre-determinable period, are quasiforgotten by release. The period over which the tracker or logger is tolog the activities can be configured. The shorter the period, the fasterthe processing. The longer the period, the higher the possibility toacquire processing or usage patterns.

The analyser shown in FIG. 9 is a process which analyses the contents“found” by the crawler in accordance with various criteria in thebackground of the data processing system. The analyser itself in thepresent invention consists of the following sub-components and-processes, respectively:

-   -   IndexAnalyser: Analyses the contents for keywords required for        interrelation acquisition.    -   SemanticAnalyser: Analyses the contents according to semantic        criteria in order to acquire interrelations between contents.    -   SyntaxAnalyser: Analyses the contents for syntactic        interrelations with other contents.    -   InterestAnalyser: Analyses contents for patterns in processing        or use by the user.

If at least two events have been entered in the log tracker), ananalysis can be started by calling the analytical process. For thispurpose, the analyser views the first two entries of the log. If thesecond entry is not an event which was triggered by the selection (e.g.“for display”) of an item of content, the syntax analysis will bestarted (cf. FIG. 11). If it was an interrelation (subsequently alsoreferred to as selection), syntax analysis will be skipped. If bothentries are events which were triggered by the user, each of thecontents is examined both in the semantic and in the interest analyserin the present case. Subsequently, other analytical steps may follow.When all analytical steps have been carried out, the first entry isdeleted. Now the entire process is repeated until only one entry is leftin the log.

FIG. 14 for instance shows the process of a so-called meta analyser. Themeta analyser verifies whether the number of connections to an examinedcontent exceeds a limiting value n. If not, it is verified whether thereis a meta content which—if it exists—must be deleted. If the limitingvalue is reached, it is also verified at first whether there is a metacontent. In both cases, all linked contents are merged and summarised.If there has already been a meta content, the latter is updated by thesummary. If there has been no meta content, yet, it is created anddeposited in a database.

The repository shown in detail in an exemplary manner in FIG. 10 is theinterface to the data inventories. It assumes the memorization of alldata relevant for the kernel; in the present invention, these are inparticular:

-   -   An index to all contents.    -   Interrelations or connections of contents to other contents.    -   Temporary information regarding the order of processing of        contents by the user (tracker).    -   Temporary information on new and modified contents (crawler).    -   An index of all key values of the contents (weighting).

When the semantic analysis is started, it is verified whether aconnection between the two contents already exists. If there is none, aconnection with a low value larger than 0 is created for weighting. If aconnection exists already, the SemanticAnalyser will query whether theweighting is smaller than 1. If this value is 1, the analysis isaborted, if it is smaller than 1, it is continued. Now the weighting ofthe connection is increased by a smallest value larger than 0.Subsequently, it is verified whether the resulting weighting is largeror equal to 1. If the value is smaller than 1, the semantic analysis isterminated. If the value is larger or equal to 1, the weighting isreduced to a largest value smaller than 1. Subsequently, all otherexisting connections are called, and their weighting is reduced by afactor corresponding to the reduction of the currently examinedconnection. After that, the SemanticAnalyser is terminated.

FIG. 11 shows the iterative analytical process of interrelationacquisition. In the present invention, as already explained, variousanalytical processes are used in combination. Within the scope ofinterrelation acquisition, the analytical process is started by an entryin the tracker (event log), and is finished when only one entry remainsin the tracker. As already explained above, it is the task of theanalyser component to independently recognise the interrelations betweenthe contents. For this purpose, the data processing system uses inparticular a syntactical and a semantic analysis in combination. FIG. 12shows the sequence of the processes explained above within the scope ofa semantic analysis. FIG. 13 shows the principal structure of theprocesses within the scope of a syntactic analysis.

FIG. 11 shows the principal steps of the procedure realised by theanalyser component. Within the scope of calling the analyser component,log files or the database entries (logs) are processed in thechronological order in which the individual items were written. If anyentries have been processed in this manner, they are deleted from thelist, while at least the last action is saved, however. The length ofthe list of actions in the log file or the database table also dependson how fast the analyser works, or how much computational throughput isassigned to the secondary thread. The thread of the IQser component orthe actions carried out by the user of the data processing system,respectively, always have priority. As soon as a new action is writtento the log file and the analyser has not been active yet, the analysisfor interrelation acquisition is started. The following situations canlead to a call of the analyser:

-   -   At the start of the data processing system, at least two entries        from the last session are already in the log.    -   The crawler has identified new contents, for instance by a new        plug-in.    -   The user creates a new content.    -   The user selects an item of content from a called list.

The SyntaxAnalyser determines the rules for syntax analysis by callingthe “keys” for the specific content to be searched. These “keys” areattributes describing which information modules (data fields) and datatypes are to be used for determining contexts. From the keys, theanalyser compiles a filter which triggers a search through the entireacquired data inventory. Finally a connection is created to the contentsfound which, depending on the implementation and the requirements of theuser, is weighted with 1 or a largest value smaller than 1, or the hitaccuracy.

As explained above, all contents can be linked in interrelations withany type and any number of other contents. Interrelations are possibleboth in a cross-category manner and within one category. For instance,addresses can be linked with addresses, but addresses can also be linkedwith projects. There is no hierarchical order. The data processingsystem differentiates static and dynamic connections for interrelationsor their acquisition, respectively. Static connections are alwaysdisplayed and can be produced and edited by the user. Dynamicconnections are automatically created by the system with a weighting.The following are the criteria for weighting:

-   -   The frequency of calling a content.    -   The frequency of calling of contents in the context created by        the interrelation.    -   The age of the last call of the interrelation or of the linked        contents.        Search results of an interrelation request are furthermore        weighted according to the frequency of the searched content in        the respective interrelation.

As already explained, there is an internal threshold value beyond whicha dynamic connection is displayed or not. The value (weighting) changesin dependence on the user behaviour or the evaluation of the log of allactions carried out by the user with the data processing system,respectively.

The interrelations are represented as dynamically linked objects in thedata processing system.

FIG. 15 shows and describes in an exemplary manner how the correspondingplug-in is queried for a crawler task for identification of newcontents. From a technical point of view, this subsystem realisingsynchronisation processes is a so-called class which queries therespective data sources of the plug-in for new, deleted or generatedinterrelations.

FIG. 16 shows and describes in an exemplary manner how an analysis offull texts according to the invention within the scope of an acquisitionof interrelation according to the invention takes place, wherein atleast one word from a list (list of words) of words contained in thefull text that has been made from a full text is used as the at leastone item of data representing at least one item of information of therequest for an interrelation (interrelation request). The list of wordsmade from a full text in the pattern analysis will be arranged in anascending manner in accordance with the frequency of the words. Thefirst 32 words of the list resulting from this will be sent as searchquery—i.e. a request for an interrelation (interrelation request)—to afull text of a search engine. As a result a list of the similardocuments with a weighting determined by the search engine will bedelivered. Subsequently, it will be respectively verified in the furtheranalysis whether there is already a connection of the full text with thesearch hit. If this is the case, the higher weighting will be takenover. If this is not the case, a connection will be established and theweighting of the search result will be taken over.

The data processing system according to the invention further provides across-device man-machine interface for display, editing and control ofcomplex contents or data inventories and their interrelations, inparticular in order to satisfy the requirements with regard to atransparent control for modification of large data inventories and theirinterrelations and to make such a control comprehensible in particularfor the untrained user and to facilitate it in comparison to othersystems. The logic and ergonomics used by the man-machine interface areadvantageously independent of the data processing devices or terminalsused for or together with the data processing system according to theinvention, for instance their output units such as monitors or displays.

The man-machine interface of the data processing system according to theinvention advantageously enables an action-oriented control of the dataprocessing system. The action-oriented control of the data processingsystem according to the invention replaces the functional menu controlof computer-based programs usually used today. A functional menu controloffers a selection of functions which are grouped in accordance withabstract criteria and are accessible in menu trees. Such abstractcriteria are for instance “File” and “Edit” for the Windows operatingsystems of the company Microsoft. In comparison, the action-orientedcontrol according to the invention—also referred to as action-orientednavigation—operates with context-sensitive options for action which havea binary structure in any application situation of the system. Thebinary structure relates to an input on the one side and an output ofcontents on the other side, or to authoring or modifying and displayingdata inventories. The binary options for action are advantageouslyadjusted dependent on the respective action context, i.e. new optionsfor action can be added in dependence on the respective action context,and/or other options for action can be omitted. The binaryaction-oriented control can advantageously be applied simultaneously toall output media, for instance with small displays of mobile terminalsor with voice input and/or output, for which purpose the data processingdevice advantageously comprises a microphone and a speaker as input andoutput units.

The control or navigation through complex data inventories and theirinterrelations is advantageously realised by the man-machine interfaceof the data processing system according to the invention by a graphicuser interface which serves to enter and/or reproduce interrelationrequests, connections, interrelations, and/or interrelation weightings.Herein, the graphic user interface is configured for entering, modifyingand/or reproducing data representing information in at least one datainventory.

The graphic user interface partitions the display area provided forreproduction by a display device into three areas, wherein in a firstarea, data representing information in at least one data inventoryaccessible via at least one data source, in a second area, at least oneitem of data representing at least one item of information of aninterrelation request, and in a third area, at least one acquiredinterrelation between the item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of the interrelation request and the item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of the data inventory isreproduced.

The partitioning according to the invention of the display area intothree sub-areas is subsequently referred to as triadic window technique.While the window techniques known from the graphic interfaces of modernoperating systems either operate with list, icon, or tree diagrams forrepresenting the hierarchical structure of data and files of a computersystem, the triadic window technique according to the invention operateswith a horizontal or vertical tripartition of the available display area(window).

A corresponding graphic user interface is shown in FIG. 17 and FIG. 18,in the present invention in the form of a principal example of aso-called Internet front-end, with a vertical partition of the displayarea. Herein, the data processing system according to the invention canbe used in the form of a so-called web browser (FIG. 17) or a so-calledJAVA client (FIG. 18).

With the vertical partition of the display area represented in FIG. 17and FIG. 18, a selection of contents is shown as a list in tabular formfor instance in the upper third of the display area (window), in thesecond third of the display area (window), there is a detailed view ofan item of content selected from the first list, and in the last thirdof the display area (window), all contents linked with the selection areshown, which appear or are reproduced for instance also in a list. Inthis manner, the user can see at a glance which contents belong togetherand can continue navigation directly from there in order to search forcontents or to derive knowledge from the interrelations. Epistemologyshows that knowledge is generated by linking information. Thus, the dataprocessing system according to the invention not only makes informationtransparent, but also knowledge. If the user selects an item of contentfrom the list in the last third of the window, an animation will beadvantageously started which shifts the last animation upwards, whereinthe subsequently shown “triadic window” has the same structure andlogic. Furthermore, the user can also navigate back, so that theanimation is correspondingly reversed.

In another vertical partition of the display area not shown in thefigures, for instance the result of a (selection) in the form of a listof contents can be seen in the upper third of the display area (window),the connections or interrelations to a selected content from the list ofthe first area are shown in the second third of the display area(window), and the last third of the display area (window) shows apreview of the selected content (item of data representing information).The preview reproduced in the third area of the display area may bebetter legible or visible if the proportion in size between the firsttwo areas and the third area is variably adjustable, so-called “splitplane”. Control and navigation in this case are advantageouslyrestricted to the first two areas of the display area, while the previewin the third area simply changes in the same place. The sequence of thewindow areas can vary depending on the implementation.

The advantage of the graphic user interface of the data processingsystem according to the invention is that the user can see at a glancewhich contents belong together and can directly continue controlling ornavigating in order to search for contents or to directly deriveknowledge from acquired interrelations. Herein, an endless control ornavigation, respectively, is provided in accordance with the invention.

The fields marked with the reference numerals 1 to 7 in FIG. 18 have thefollowing functionalities:

-   -   1: List entries can be dragged to the list of references by drag        and drop in order to create a connection. A double-click will        open the detailed view in a new window;    -   2: Column headers: A sorting criterion can be selected by mouse        click;    -   3: Scroll bar in order to be able to completely view lists and        detailed lists which cannot be displayed completely in the        window area;    -   4: The area for the list can be moved, and even completely        “folded up” with pressed mouse button;    -   5: The detailed list entry comprises scroll bars in order to be        able to completely view lists and detailed lists which cannot be        displayed completely in the window area;    -   6: Column positions provided with background functions, for        instance an email address leads to a mask for writing an email        and    -   7: References can easily be deleted by dragging them out of the        window area by the mouse.

In the following, processes occurring within the scope of use of thedata processing system and their realisation on the part of therespective user interface are described by way of example.

-   -   “Display a list”

In the application of the user interface (GUI), the user selects a menuitem from the menu or navigation for displaying contents, for instancein order to view all of the latest projects. The list of menu items tobe selected is similar to a bookmark list of a browser. In the dataprocessing system according to the invention, however, the bookmarks donot refer to static pages or lists, but to dynamic interrelations.Correspondingly, this part of navigation will look different from userto user. In the present invention, the data processing system isrealised as a JAVA client.

-   -   “Add attributes”

In order to add a new attribute to a content object, the user calls upthe edit mode of a content object. In addition to the existingattributes, the user will find an empty field where he can enter a newattribute or select from an accompanying list. An address is an objectfor which the IQser suggests attributes:

Since in the Java client, edit and view mode are not differentiated, itis advantageously proposed for this variant to supplement the navigation“new” with the option “Add attribute”. If external data sources areused, the additional attributes will be memorized in the IQser.

If the user selects the option “module” (or a different designation) inthe menu, a new empty module is shown in the detailed view. Thedesignation is also empty. Advantageously, an additional selection boxwith the previously defined modules is provided. Subsequently, the dataprocessing system advantageously verifies whether this designationalready exists for a module, and corrects any typos or redundancies, ifrequired.

FIG. 19 shows and exemplarily describes the development of a grouping ofresults (content object) according to the invention within the scope ofan acquisition of interrelations according to the invention, in thefollowing also referred to as clustering of search results. Herein,search results are iterated step by step within the scope of theanalysis of these ones. For each search hit the links are queried. Ifthere is at least one link which is also a component of the searchresult, a group will be created. All such links will then be added tothis group which are also part of the search result. The results(content object) of the group will no more be considered during thefollowing iteration. The name of the group will be determined from thethree longest and most frequent terms of the names of the allocatedcontent objects.

FIG. 20 and FIG. 21 respectively show a schematic diagram of anexemplary embodiment of a graphic reproduction of groupings of results(content object) within the scope of an acquisition of interrelationsaccording to the invention. Herein, the acquisition of interrelations isadvantageously realised by means of an interrelation request addressedas request to a search engine.

FIG. 20 shows the graphic display of links to a result (content object).Herein, grouped relations are displayed in stacks in a network graphic.Each stack can represent a group, for instance the object type, if thegrouping is realised according to types, or the subject, if the groupingis realised according to subjects. This provides an improved overview ofthe interrelations according to the interrelation request. In thepresent invention, a stack opens with an animation by means of a mouseclick. In the present embodiment, up to five results (content objects)will be displayed by means of the optical display device of a dataprocessing system or a data processing device. The two arrows referencedby “L” and “R” in FIG. 20 at the beginning and at the end of an extendedstack are configured as buttons in order to enable navigation through astack, preferably by so called scrolling. A click on the buttonreferenced by “R” for instance leads to a little animation which shiftsthe results (content object) of the respective group to the left, suchthat five new or other results (content object) of the group will bereproduced. Of course, navigating through a stack only makes sense ifthis one comprises more than five objects. The circle referenced by “K”in FIG. 20 and placed above a first result, in the present case forinstance a document, indicates a provided button, by means of which thestack can be compressed back into its original form by actuation,preferably by a so called mouse click with a mouse or a like input withan input device.

If the mouse pointer of the mouse is on one of the objects in a stack, apreview (in FIG. 20 referenced by “half transparent preview”) of theresult (content object) will be opened. A mouse click leads to ananimation which is symbolically indicated by the arrow referenced by Gin FIG. 20. Herein, the entire displayed graphic, apart from theselected result (content object), is represented in a faded manner andthe selected result (content object) is shifted into the centre of theimage in an animated way. Afterwards, the links of the selected result(content object) will be faded in. A double click onto a correspondingresult (content object) of the selected result (content object) opensthe full view of the same one, for instance with a corresponding programwhich has generated the result (content object).

An alternative possibility is represented in FIG. 21 and comprises theopening of a new level or view level which is in the present casepreferably superposed in a three-dimensional representation. Thus, theuser of the solution according to the invention can simply navigate backin that he returns to a former level. FIG. 21 illustrates thearrangement or use of corresponding levels.

Another advantageous embodiment of the invention provides the use of aninterrelation request within the scope of a method for researchinginformation (information research), in the following also referred to asdata shopping, as represented in FIG. 22. The IQser according to theinvention manages information in several contexts. For researchinginformation in a special working or process context, the data shoppingaccording to the invention helps as follows: For each search result oreach connection to a context (data object) the user can mark individualcontent objects and receive them in a virtual data shopping cart. Inthis manner, information will not get lost during a research. If theresearch is finished, the user can allocate the collected data objectsto a context (data object). If the user for instance researchesinformation which is required for a new project, he can simply collectit via a virtual shopping cart and afterwards allocate it to theconcrete project. This means a substantial help in actively structuringinformation in a company or like applications.

The exemplary embodiments of the invention shown in the figures of thedrawing and explained in connection with the description merely serve toexplain the invention and are in no way restrictive.

1. A method for acquiring at least one interrelation between at leastone item of data representing at least one item of information of atleast one data inventory and at least one item of data representing atleast one item of information of a request for an interrelation to theat least one item of data representing at least one item of informationof at least one data inventory by means of a data processing system withdata representing information in at least one data inventory which canbe accessed via at least one data source, wherein the at least oneinterrelation itself will be acquired as an item of data rep-resentingat least one item of information in a data inventory and dynamically asa link between at least one item of data representing at least one itemof information of at least one data inventory and at least one otheritem of data representing at least one item of information of at leastone data inventory and/or at least one electronic use of at least oneitem of data representing at least one item of information of at leastone data inventory and will be reproduced by means of an optical and/oracoustical display device of the data processing system, wherein thelink will be established by means of at least one syntactic comparisonand/or by means of one semantic comparison of the at least one item ofdata representing at least one item of information of at least one datainventory with the at least one item of data representing at least oneitem of information of the request for interrelation with/to the atleast one item of data representing at least one item of information ofat least one data inventory, characterized in that results of requestsfor an interrelation are grouped according to topics.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the interrelation request isrealized as a request to a search engine.
 3. The method according toclaim 1, characterized in that for topically grouping results ofrequests for an interrelation, for each result of a request for aninterrelation data representing information linked to the result areretrieved preferably step by step, and if at least one link which isalso a result of a request for an interrelation is existent, a groupwill be generated or created in which the links are acquired.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3, characterized in that for already groupedresults of the request for an interrelation no link will be retrieved.5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the groupingwill be provided with an identification which is formed by the threelongest and/or most frequent data representing information of thegrouped results.
 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized inthat grouped results of requests for an interrelation will be reproducedby the optical display device of a data processing system in form ofstacks representing the respective group, preferably in graphicallyanimated form.
 7. The method according to claim 1, characterised in thatat least one word of a list made on the base of a full text (list ofwords) and comprising words contained in the full text will be used asthe at least one item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of the request for an interrelation.
 8. The method accordingto claim 7, characterized in that the words on the list (list of words)of words contained in the full text will be arranged in accordance withthe frequency of their presence in the full text and the arranged wordswill be used in consideration of the frequency of their presence in thefull text as the at least one item of data representing at least oneitem of information of the request for interrelation.
 9. The methodaccording to claim 8, characterized in that a pre-determinable number ofthe words arranged on a list (arranged list of words) in accordance withthe frequency of their presence in the full text will be acquired andthe words of the list (arranged list of words) will be used as the atleast one item of data representing at least one item of information ofthe request for an interrelation.
 10. The method according to claim 9,characterized in that the list (arranged list of words) contains thewords with the lowest frequency of their presence in the full text. 11.The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the words arearranged in an ascending manner in accordance with the frequency oftheir presence in the full text.
 12. The method according to claim 1,characterized in that the words of the list are at least partially,preferably completely used in parallel as the at least one item of datarepresenting at least one item of information of the request for aninterrelation.
 13. The method according to claim 1, characterized inthat the connection is created by manual input, preferably by a selectinput.
 14. The method according to claim 1, characterized by at leastone electronic use of at least one item of data representing at leastone item of information of at least one data inventory as the at leastone item of data representing at least one item of information of therequest for an interrelation.
 15. The method according to claim 1,characterized by an acquisition of electronic uses of data representingat least one item of information of at least one data inventory inaccordance with time and/or frequency and use of this acquisition as theat least one item of data representing at least one item of informationof the request for an interrelation.
 16. The method according to claim1, characterised by at least one acquisition of an interrelation aselectronic use of an item of data representing at least one item ofinformation of a data inventory.
 17. The method according to claim 1,characterised in that the acquisition of interrelation is realised in aweighted manner.
 18. The method according to claim 17, characterized inthat the weighting of interrelations of at least one interrelationalready acquired as an item of data representing at least one item ofinformation in a data inventory is modified in dependence on theweighting of interrelations of a subsequently acquired interrelation,preferably the weighting of interrelations is increased (incremented) orreduced (decremented).
 19. The method according to claim 1,characterized in that the weighting of at least one acquiredinterrelation is reproduced together with it.
 20. The method accordingto claim 1, characterized by the use of at least one link to at leastone data inventory comprising data representing information.
 21. A dataprocessing system with data representing information in at least onedata inventory that is accessible via at least one data source,characterized in that the said data processing system is configuredand/or adapted for at least partially carrying out a method according toclaim
 1. 22. The data processing system according to claim 21,characterised by a graphic user interface for entering and/orreproduction of interrelation requests, connections, interrelationsand/or weightings of interrelations.
 23. The data processing systemaccording to claim 22, characterized in that the graphic user interfaceis furthermore designed and/or adapted for entering, modifying and/orreproducing data representing information in at least one datainventory.
 24. The data processing system according to claim 22,characterized in that the graphic user interface partitions the displayarea available for reproduction by means of an optical display deviceinto three areas, wherein the result of a selection of data representinginformation is reproduced in a first area, an item of informationselected from the selection in the first area is reproduced in a secondarea with a display, and the at least one interrelation is reproduced ina third area.
 25. The data processing system according to claim 24,characterized by a horizontal or vertical partition.
 26. The dataprocessing system according to claim 24, characterized in that the sizeof the areas can be set and/or adjusted.
 27. The data processing systemaccording to claim 21, characterized in that the reproduction occurs atleast partly in selectable form.
 28. The data processing systemaccording to claim 21, characterized in that this one is part of adatabase application, or at least usable together with a databaseapplication.
 29. A data processing device for electronic data processingcomprising a control and/or computing unit, an input unit and an outputunit, characterized in that this one is configured and/or adapted for atleast partially carrying out a method according to claim
 1. 30. A dataprocessing device for electronic data processing comprising a controland/or computing unit, an input unit and an output unit, characterisedby an at least partly existing use of a data processing system accordingto claim
 21. 31. The data processing device according to claim 29,characterized in that this one is designed as a mobile terminal,preferably as a mobile terminal which can be used or operated in mobilenetworks, most preferred as a mobile phone.
 32. The data processingdevice according to claim 29, further comprising a data processingsystem with data representing information in at least one data inventorythat is accessible via at least one data source.